Friday, December 11, 2015

Week's Reflection: God's Presence Guarantees Success

This week’s theme is: “God is with us”, Emmanuel!

Zeph. 3:14-20 prophesies the coming of the King of Israel in the midst of Jerusalem, among God’s people, in order to restore Israel’s fortunes. Isaiah 12:2-6 calls for a celebration of God’s salvation, for His coming means salvation for God’s people. In the same vein, Paul in Philippians 4:4-7 calls us to rejoice always because the Lord is at hand. And finally in Luke 3:7-18, we are told by John Baptist to make way for the Lord’s coming through repentance, for when He comes, He will baptize us with the Spirit and fire.

In fact, the expression, “the Lord is with him”, invariably guarantees salvation and success:

Gen 39:3 His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

Gen 39:23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

1 Sam 3:19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

1 Sam 18:14 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him.

2 Kings 18:7 And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.

But how do we ensure that the Lord is with us? According to Zephaniah, Isaiah and Paul, we are to rejoice! According to John the Baptist, we are to repent! And at the end, we are to receive the Lord who is the Spirit as the Lord's fire to purge and purify us from works of the flesh to deliver us from self and Satan.

Father, we welcome Your presence in our midst. We repent of our self-willed life and rejoice in You and receive Your Spirit's fire to purge and purify us from our sinful self. Amen.

Total Pageviews

Followers

Translate

Search This Blog

Follow by Email

About Me

Then Chee Min's current passion is persuading church and marketplace leaders to adopt a missional vision that is transformational, aligning people with God's Kingdom agenda as expressed through the Gospel. He is available to preach, teach and train on missional leadership.